James Deegan: Saucon Valley SD Supervisor of Assessment and Instruction
Welcome Parents, Students and Fellow Educators!
Thank you for visiting the website of the office of Assessment and Instruction. Please visit often to get the latest news and information on what is happening in the Saucon Valley School District in regards to assessment and instruction . If you have any questions about our program or progress please don't hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward to working with you this year!
Assessment article2007.pdfThe following article(s) Learning to Love Assessment (Tomlinson, Carol A. Educational Leadership. Dec.2007, ASCD) and The Best Value in Formative Assessment (Chappuis, Jan & Chappuis, Stephen. Educational Leadership. Dec. 2007, ASCD) read of the value of assessing students, either through conventional paper/pencil or formative assessments.
As stated in the last paragraph of the Tomlinson article, there are different categories of an assessment and their function relative to the data that is generated: of learning, for learning and as learning.
The Tomlinson article brings about the following questions for reflection:
1. The assessment(s) of learning that I use in my classroom are....
2. The assessment(s) for learning that I use in my classroom are....
In the Chappuis & Chappuis article formative, benchmark and summative assessments are defined and their use described.
The following questions can be guiding for reflection:
3. Following these descriptors of the types of assessment, how do you see Formative and Benchmark assessments being used in your classroom at this point?
4. In your school?
View the following document (draft) which illustrates the cyclical pattern of formative, benchmark and summative assessments: AssessmentCycle2.pdf
Formative, Diagnostic, Benchmark and Summative (Annual): Process and Protocol
What are the differences between benchmark and diagnostic assessments? Benchmark: Benchmark assessments as defined by UNC.pdf Diagnostic: CDT FAQs_-1.pdf
The Affect of Benchmark Assessments: Benchmark Assessment Affect Full Report.pdf
What do the four look like within the Saucon Valley SD?
Formative: quizzes, thumbs up/thumbs down, exit tickets, homework
Diagnostic: CDT (Classroom Diagnostic Tool), pre-assessment
Benchmark: Unit test, quarterly, 4Sight, mid-term exam
Summative: Final exam, PSSA, Keystone Exam
As defined by the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, & Student Learning:
Role of benchmark assessments in a comprehensive assessment system
Annual state assessments provide information on how students are doing relative to annual learning standards, i.e., long-term learning goals. Formative assessment is embedded in classroom instruction and provides immediate information on short-term learning goals. Formative assessment data can help teachers plan instruction. Benchmark assessments occupy a middle position in the assessment spectrum. They are strategically located and administered outside daily classroom use but inside the school and district curriculum. Typically uniform in timing and content across classrooms and schools, benchmark assessments provide results that can be aggregated at the classroom, grade, school and district levels. This information, when provided to school and district decision-makers and teachers, serves as an interim indication of how well students are learning and raises important questions regarding instructional program and practice impact. It can promote action to accelerate progress toward annual goals and provide more immediate information that can be used to help plan and guide subsequent instruction at the school and classroom level.
Interrelationships between formative, benchmark, and annual assessments
The graphic below highlights the interrelationships between three types of assessments—formative, benchmark, and annual—in a comprehensive assessment system. The learning targets assessed by frequent formative assessment in the classroom build toward the longer-term targets addressed by periodic benchmark assessments. Benchmark data inform teaching and learning that occurs prior to the annual assessment, which in turn transfers into subsequent years of teaching, learning and assessment. Notice how the smaller, more frequent assessments build on and support each other to keep learning moving forward.
